Newtown -- never forget
Surveys suggest that Americans are already forgetting the issues raised by Newtown. Let's stop that from happening.
Newtown -- never forget
It happens every time, doesn't it? Some horrible tragedy, some outrage of humanity or politics tales place -- and America vows that it will never forget. And it doesn't forget...for a few days, maybe for a few weeks. But life gets in the way. The December holidays are a moment to cherish time with your family, not to sit on your laptop writing angry letters to legislators, but then the holidays end and...other stuff is happening. My gosh, Newtown was terrible, but look at the TV, we're going over the fiscal cliff RIGHT NOW!!!
This is what the whack jobs at the NRA are counting on. They are waiting you out. Do you really want to do the NRA's bidding?
Right at this moment, you and I are doing exactly that:
[BEGIN EXCERPT] On the day of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., we published a chart showing the Sisyphean nature of the national gun control discussion. In the immediate aftermath of a shooting, such as the one that took place in Aurora, Colo., mentions of the term "gun control" spike in the news media. In a matter of days, that discussion all but disappears.
This time was supposed to be different. "It is hard to believe this will not be a watershed moment when we start to talk about, deal with and even perhaps legislate on guns," ABC News's Z. Byron Wolf wrote. He was one among many in the media who believed the momentum for gun control legislation was strong enough to turn the tide on a familiar pattern.
Blame it on the fiscal cliff, blame it on Christmas, blame it on our ability to forget, but the national discussion about gun control has once again ebbed. Mentions of the term "gun control" on television, in newspapers, and in online media are down to pre-Sandy Hook levels, according to the Nexis database.
Barring a post-holidy resurgence -- which is certainly possible -- the gun control discussion has once again gone the way of... the gun control discussion. [END EXCERPT]
OK, the ball is dropped, 2013, and it's time to rally, people. If America is not a country that is moved to act by the wanton slaughter of 6- and 7-year-old children in their first grade classroom -- let alone a record level of mass killings, let alone the senseless gun violence that takes place every day in cities like Philadelphia or Camden -- then we are no longer a country.
Every day that I'm posting to this blog, there will be a reminder -- usually small, occasionally large -- of what YOU (yes, you!) can do about gun violence.
You can, for example....go to Harrisburg and let legislators know how you feel.
The good people of CeaseFirePA are holding a rally in the state capital on Jan. 23. You can read more about it here, and you can also join their group for the event on Facebook. Just showing your face is the best way to let lawmakers know that the people are taking back Pennsylvania, that the fringe extremists of the NRA have held sway for too long.
Forget Newtown? Heck, we'd all like to. But we can't. And we won't.
Yes, of the safety nets that are left, several have received temporary increases because of the Great Recession. I was talking about the de-funding of LBJ's War on Poverty, which conservatives went about trying to de-fund almost immediately after it's passage. One that is always on the hit list is Head Start. As I said, it is a long conversation for the uninformed. I'm not dodging your question, but it is a big one.
Going back to gun legislation, what business do you have talking about the uselessness of gun laws when you don't even know about the gun show loophole?— Hamlet- Of the safety nets that are left? We have a 16 trillion debt. We double what we spend on medicaid every 10 years. One in 6 people are on food stamps, we pay for school breakfast and lunch. You can collect unemployment for 2 years. We put condom machines in schools. We pay for cellphones, heating oil, internet connections, you name it. Humor me. Just name one that has been "de-funded". Just one.
And for godssake, are you in favor of mandatory minimum sentencing for committing a crime with a gun? I'm getting tired of asking. It isnt a tough one. Yes or no.
— tr88 - I guess Hamlet had to go and we wont get to hear which Safety net programs the GOP has "de-funded" and we' wont get to hear his thoughts on mandatory minimum sentencing for committing a crime with a gun.— tr88
- Mandatory minimum sentencing for anything is wrong. We have courts and juries for a reason.— Hamlet
- There you have it. Get arrested with a gun and you can get off 44 times in a row in Philadelphia because we have liberal judges and juries. But passing more laws is the answer. — tr88
- BTW, there are already statutes on the books of many state (perhaps all, I'm not sure) that provide for higher sentences for crimes committed with guns. That is not the same as mandatory minimums, which take the decision out of the hands of the courts and juries.— Hamlet
- Commit a crime with a gun and a liberal like hamlet wont favor a mandatory sentence. But he favors restricting law-abiding citizens of their rights.— tr88
- Well, if it means George Zimmerman can't plead for mercy, why not mandatory sentencing?
- We're on a roll. Any luck finding one of those safety net program you claim the mean GOP de-funded to sabotage them?— tr88
- We're on a roll. Any luck finding one of those safety net program you claim the mean GOP de-funded to sabotage them?— tr88
- tr88, what do you think of the people of the United States? What do you think of the concept of democracy? Do you think mandatory laws passed by a handful of politicians can take the place of judges and juries? If so you must think we are better off with an authoritarian state. Our leaders (I hate when American journalists use that word - we don't have leaders in America, only public servants) dictate the law and we obey...or else. Is that what you are saying?— Hamlet
- Thats a long conversation. — tr88
- tr88, tell us what you know of the gun show loophole and why gun laws are useless.— Hamlet
- Thats too long a conversation, but I did find someone who wants to "de-fund" the safety net. Dick Durbin, number 2 democrat in the Senate.http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/27/nation/la-na-fiscal-cliff-20121128 — tr88
- Yes, the Democrats of 2013 (well, the article was 2012) are not very different from the Republicans. That is not how Democrats have acted in the past. President Obama put Social Security on the table for the Fiscal Cliff, when SS has nothing to do with it.
I won't defend that, but that is not what I was talking about. I offered one example of de-funding, that you chose to ignore, while claiming that I didn't offer one example. I guess reading is not your strong point.— Hamlet
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